buddhism revision y10 t4 Flashcards
1
Q
shrine:
A
A place regarded as holy as it is linked to a holy person or object.
2
Q
vihara:
A
A Theravada temple-monastery.
3
Q
offering:
A
Something given (e.g. to a god or a religious figure) as part of worship.
4
Q
Features of shrines:
A
- Found in temples and homes.
- Usually set up on a table.
- A statue of the Buddha, and/or bodhisattva.
- Buddhist scriptures.
- Offerings .
5
Q
Offerings (and what they symbolise):
A
- Flowers: anicca
- Candles: enlightenment
- Water: purity and calm
- Fruit: karma
- Incense: the dharma
6
Q
Features of
Theravada temples:
A
- Shrine room
- Accommodation for monks and/or nuns
- Stupa monument
- Bodhi tree
- Ordination hall
7
Q
importance of Theravada temples?
A
- Place for children to learn about Buddhism.
- Focus for important events, e.g. festivals.
8
Q
Features of
Mahayana temples (Japan):
A
- Hondo (hall containing sacred objects).
- Kodo: lecture hall.
- Pagoda monument
- Bonsho: bell used to summon priests to pray.
- Accommodation for priests and their families.
9
Q
importance of Mahayana temples?
A
- Provide services to local community, eg funerals, helping the poor.
- House sacred objects (worship done at home).
- Cemeteries are found in temples.
10
Q
*samatha
A
A form of meditation that aims to develop calmness.
11
Q
*vipassana
A
insight meditation
12
Q
*metta-bhavana
A
Meditation focused on developing loving kindness.
13
Q
Samatha meditation:
A
- Focuses on 1 thing eg breath.
- Over time, concentration gradually improves.
- Often used to prepare for other forms of meditation.
- Focusing on one thing keeps out harmful mental states.
14
Q
Metta-bhavana meditation:
A
- Involves directing metta towards different people.
- Done in stages, starting with metta to yourself, working up to all beings.
- Can be supported by silently saying e.g. “may you be free from suffering”.
- Aim is to cultivate an attitude of metta.
15
Q
Vipassana meditation:
A
- Meditator focuses on their breath.
- They silently label activities they notice (e.g. “in” and “out” as they breathe).
- Distracting thoughts are labelled (e.g. “anger”) and observed, until they cease.
- Attention is returned to the breath.
- Believed to lead to great insights into reality, and ultimately to nirvana.
16
Q
buddhas and bodhisattvas in terms of meditation?
A
- The Buddha or a bodhisattva may be used as a focus for meditation.
- May done by using a statue or by visualisation.
- Allows the meditator to focus on the Buddha’s qualities, e.g. wisdom.
- Believed that this can help the meditator develop these qualities.
17
Q
puja?
A
Buddhist word for “worship” or “devotional ritual”
18
Q
triratna:
A
Buddhist term for the Three Jewels.
19
Q
mantra?
A
A sacred sound or phrase which is repeated over and over again as a form of meditation.
20
Q
chanting (devotional practices)?
A
- Repeating word or phrases rhythmically.
- Eg Buddhist texts or teachings.
21
Q
why chant? CHANT acronym
A
- Calms the mind.
- Helps remember teachings
- Creates Awareness
- Not prayer – aims for internal transformation.
- Chanting the Triratna is a way of recommitting to Buddhism.
22
Q
mantras description?
A
- More important in Mahayana Buddhism.
- Deeper meaning of word / phrase unlocked by repetition
23
Q
why use mantras?
A
- A simple, powerful practice.
- Can create good karma
- Can purify the mind
- A way off calling upon the help of a bodhisattva.
- Avalokiteshvara mantra said to contain essence of the whole dharma. Chanting it can lead to enlightenment
24
Q
malas?
A
- Buddhist prayer beads.
- Used as an aid to worship.
- Used to count chants / mantras to aid focus.
- Often worn by Buddhists as a symbol of identity.
25
mundras?
* Symbolic hand gestures.
* Often seen on Buddhist statues.
* Used to aid to worship / meditation.
* Represent particular mental states.
* Adopting a mudra helps connect to that mental state
26
wesak?
Theravada festival that celebrates the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment, and death
27
parinirvana day?
Mahayana festival that commemorates the Buddha’s death and parinirvana.
28
kathina?
A Theravada festival which comes at the end of Vassa (an annual period of retreat).
29
therevada festivals?
- wesak
- kathina
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mahayana festivals?
parinirvana day
31
Wesak celebrations:
* Displaying lights to symbolise enlightenment.
* Giving offerings at temples and shrines.
* Giving alms to support monks
* Releasing captive animals to symbolise the liberation of nirvana.
* Lay Buddhists may follow the five additional precepts expected of monks.
32
Parinirvana Day celebrations:
* Giving gifts to monks and/or the poor.
* Reading the Parinirvana Sutra or hearing it recited in a temple.
* Preparing and sharing food
* Praying for loved ones who have died recently.
* Some Buddhists take a pilgrimage to Kushinagar, where the Buddha died.
33
Kathina celebrations:
* A time for monks and lay Buddhists to come together again after the Vassa retreat.
* Lay Buddhists may prepare a meal for the monks.
* Lay Buddhists present the monks with gifts and, most importantly, cloth.
* The monks cut the cloth and make new robes, giving it to monks who most need them.
* In Myanmar, colourful “donation trees” made and taken to the monastery.
34
the Buddha:
Title meaning “the Awakened One”
35
renunciation:
In religion, giving something up in order to live a spiritual life.
36
nirvana:
The goal of Buddhism. It is a state beyond suffering.
37
The Dharma:
The spiritual laws of the universe; The Buddha’s teachings.
38
The Three Poisons:
Ignorance, greed, and hatred. The negative characteristics possessed by all humans.
39
The Three Jewels:
The guiding principles of Buddhism: The Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
40
The Four Noble Truths:
The Buddha’s basic teachings on the causes of suffering and the way to overcome it.
41
The Eightfold Path:
The practices followed by Buddhists to reach Nirvana.
42
samsara:
The continual cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
43
*skandhas:
Heaps” or “Bundles”. The five impermanent parts that make up a human being
44
sunyata:
Emptiness”. Buddhist belief that all things are empty of independent existence.
45
tatagatagarbha:
“Buddha-nature”. Belief that all beings have the potential to become a Buddha.
46
arhat:
A “perfected person” who has eliminated the three poisons and attained nirvana.
47
bodhisattva:
A being who is on the path to enlightenment, but delays nirvana to help other beings.
48
paramita:
A “Perfection”. A perfect virtue that must be developed by those on the Bodhisattva path.
49
buddha's birth?
* Born Siddhartha Gautama, 400BC, Lumbini, Nepal.
50
buddha's mother?
* Mother (Maya) died when he was a week old.
51
buddha's prophecy?
* Prophesied he would be a great religious leader, if he saw suffering or a great king if he did not.
52
buddha's palace life?
* Father kept him in the palace, in a life of luxury.
53
buddha's marriage?
* Married Yasodhara and had a son, Rahula.
54
What were the four sights? (OSCA) , buddha
Aged 29, the Buddha left the palace for the first time and saw suffering (dukkha) in the form of:
* Old man
* Sick man
* Corpse (dead body)
and finally:
* Ascetic (holy man) who seemed at peace among all this suffering.
55
renunciation in terms of the buddha?
* Gautama left the palace. Practiced asceticism, almost died.
56
bodhi tree in relation to the buddha?
* Meditated under the bodhi tree.
57
mara in relation to buddha?
* Meditated under the bodhi tree.
* Demon Mara tried to distract him.
58
1st watch, buddha?
* He saw all his past lives.
59
2nd watch, buddha?
* Understood how samsara and karma work.
60
3rd watch, buddha?
* Understood craving is the cause of suffering.
61
buddha becoming buddha?
* Attained perfect wisdom (enlightenment) and become the Buddha.
62
What are the three marks of existence?
* *Anicca: All things are impermanent.
* *Dukkha: All life involves suffering.
* *Anatta: There is no permanent self or soul.
63
*Pratityasamutpada:
* Dependent origination.
* Chain of cause and effect – all things exist because of other things.
64
What are the Three Jewels? description
* The Buddha: The Buddha’s example and the ideal of Buddhahood.
* The Dharma: The Buddha’s teachings.
* The Sangha: The community of Buddhist monks and nuns.
* The three things that guide Buddhists in their lives.
65
Nagasena and the Chariot: (the dharma)
Famous Buddhist story:
* A non-Buddhist king asks a monk to explain anatta to him.
* The monk (Nagasena), asks a king to show him what a chariot is.
* When the king points to the chariot, Nagasena explains that a chariot is simply a collection of parts, nothing more.
* Nagasena explains that humans are also a collection of parts. There is no soul or self which exists separate from these parts.
66
What are the Four Noble Truths? (desc)
1. Suffering: All life involves suffering
2. The Origin of Suffering: Suffering is caused by craving
3. The Cessation of Suffering: If craving is eliminated, we will no longer suffer.
4. The Path to the Cessation of Suffering: To end suffering, follow the Eightfold Path.
67
The Eightfold Path:
(Vampires In Space Actually Like Eating Moaning Children)
The Way of Wisdom:
* Right View
* Right Intention
The Way of Morality:
* Right Speech
* Right Action
* Right Livelihood
The Way of Meditation
* Right Effort
* Right Mindfulness
* Right Concentration
68
The Five Moral Precepts:
1st: Abstain from harming living beings.
2nd: Abstain from taking what is not given.
3rd: Abstain from sexual misconduct.
4th: Abstain from false speech.
5th: Abstain from taking intoxicants that cloud the mind
69
3 Poisons:
Hatred, ignorance, and greed.
70
Nirvana: (four noble truths relation)
Liberation’ from suffering and samsara.
71
Two stages of Nirvana:
* In this life – a psychological transformation.
* Final nirvana (parinirvana) where a person is not reborn and is fully free from samsara and suffering.
72
Two types of Buddhist:
* Theravada, which means “The way of the Elders.”
* Mahayana, which means “The Great Vehicle.”
73
The Five Skandhas:
Theravada
Form: The physical stuff of beings (i.e. our bodies).
Sensation: Basic data that comes from our senses
Perception: When sensations are transformed into concepts
Mental Formation: Our desires and impulses.
Consciousness: Awareness of being a thinking, feeling thing.
74
Sunyata: (EMPTY) Mahayana
* Means Emptiness
* Mahayana view that all things are empty of independent existence.
* All things are in a Process of arising and passing away.
* All beings are Tied together or interconnected.
* You can’t see the whole picture. Judgements are always relative.
75
Tathagatagarbha: (HONEY) Mahayana
* All beings have budda-nature.
* Our Buddha nature is Obscured by stains.
* Negative mental states (kleshas) prevent us from realising our Buddha nature.
* Explained by the analogy of the bees: If we want the honey (nirvana), get of the bees (kleshas)
* Some Buddhists belive You are already Buddha – you just don’t know it yet.
76
Beliefs about Arhats: Theravada
* Becoming an arhat is the Aim for Theravada Buddhists.
* An arhat has Reached enlightenment.
* Helped along the way by following a Buddha’s teaching.
* Achieved by following the eightfold path.
* A ‘perfected person who has overcome the Three poisons.
77
Beliefs about bodhisattvas: Mahayana
* A Buddha in training, who is on the path to enlightenment.
* The Objective of Mahayana Buddhism.
* The Dalai Lama is the incarnation of a bodhisattva.
* Bodhisattvas delay their own nirvana until have Helped all other beings reach theirs.
* Inspire other Buddhists, and are often a focus for worship.
78
The Six Paramitas:
Bodhisattvas are believed to have perfected these qualities:
* Generosity, Morality, Patience, Energy, Meditation, Wisdom.
79
Pure Land Buddhism: Mahayana
* Popular in Japan.
* Simple path to nirvana.
* Focuses on devotion to Amitabha Buddha.
* Pure Land Buddhists seek rebirth in the Pure Land.
* After rebirth in the Pure Land, a rebirth in nirvana will follow.
80
key ethical principles:
Karma: all actions have consequences.
Metta: Loving kindness
Karuna: compassion for yourself and others.
